Hello from another great week in Geneva!
This was a relatively
busy week, as usual, and my companions and I are enjoying a very
welcomed preparation day. I am one of the most blessed missionaries in
the France Lyon Mission because I got to be there for President and
Soeur Murdock's final words in the Geneva First Ward, where they have
been for the past three years. I love them so much, and will always be
thankful for the way they have changed my life and taught me in word and
in deed. Sacrament meeting was also special because our ami Sampson was
confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
This man is incredible. I talked about him in previous emails as 'David'
which we don't call him anymore, because that is the name he associates
with his old life and old friends. He is from Ghana, and he has a heart
of gold. He has abandoned a life of sin, and has chosen to follow our
Savior Jesus Christ forever. He gave a powerful
testimony at his baptisimal service. I can't wait to one day tell you
his whole story. We are so happy for him.
So, I bet you are all wondering how things went with Lucy. We get to
the door at about 8:05 (not too bad since our appointment was for 8!
haha) with Bishop Kimball. We hear her thump up to the little peep hole
as usual, and we wave at her smiling. She let out one of her classic
'I'm really excited right now' laughs, and opens the door. She has
approximately 1.7 bajillion bibles and every Christian talk show dvd
that was ever made, and usually these things are alllllll over the
place, and they still kind of were, but it was obvious that she made an
effort to clean up because when we went in the living room the table was
all cleared off, with a stack of four different bibles in the corner
(mind you they are all in huge print, so it is a rather hefty stack) and
then in the middle of the table she had her Book of Mormon, Gospel
Principles Book, and Restoration brochure sitting all stacked up on each
other, and next to the pile of Bibles was her favorite
Bible, all tattered torn and loved. So great. We started off with a
prayer and basically just got straight to the lesson. We explained to
her that the Priesthood authority (the power of God given to man to act
in His name for the Salvation of His children) of God was lost after the
death of Jesus Christ and His apostles. This priesthood is necessary to
perform sacred ordinances, such as baptism. Jesus Christ taught us by
example and commandment that except a man be born of water and the
Spirit He cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. He was baptized by John
the Baptist, because He knew that He held the authority appropriate.
John the Baptist himself appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and
conferred upon them the priesthood authority necessary to baptize,
called the Aaronic Priesthood. Peter, James and John, the original
apostles of Jesus Christ, appeared later and conferred upon Joseph Smith
and Oliver Cowdery the Melchizedek or higher Preisthood,
which was conferred to them by Jesus Christ. Now, every worthy
priesthood holder in the Church can trace their authority all the way
back to the Savior Himself. She told us she knew what we were saying was
true, but she still felt that she needed to read the whole Book of
Mormon before making a decision. It was a powerful lesson, filled with
the Spirit, and we respected her decision and just left knowing we had
done our best, and trusting that the Lord would manifest himself to her.
The next morning, we were just about to begin our companionship
study when the phone started ringing...it was Lucy! (yes dad...I totally
screened...)
Me: Hello Lucy
Lucy: HALLELUJAH!!!!!!! (I wish you could hear her amazingly passionate african-ness....just try to imagine it)
Me: Hallelujah???? (Excited, but mostly just wanting to know why she was so happy)
Lucy:
I am just REJOICIN' and I have been eva since las' night. I just wanted
to call you and tell you that I'm gonna take the baptism!'
My companions and I: Elated cries of joy and fist pumps in the air
Thank
you for your prayers of faith that helped bring to pass this miracle,
and countless others! Let's keep praying for Lucy that she will go
through with her honorable decision. She is really an amazing lady, who
has literally saved the lives of MANY in her country through her
remarkable faith in the Savior. She recieved her first copy of the Book
of Mormon in 1996, and after many years of going to and fro, she just
cannot deny that it is the truth, and contends with those that contend
with its veracity. She has many stresses in her life right now, and I
know that as we continue to pray for her, the Lord will continue to
prepare the way for her to recieve these saving ordinances made possible
by our Savior who she knows and loves so much.
We are teaching a family from Madagascar! And we are still working
with the Portuguese family, we are seeing them a little later tonight.
The Hernandez family went on a temple trip to do baptisms this weekend,
Ony and Shine are STILL waiting for little baby Ungi to come, and
Stephane is doing lots better. We have a lot of potential amis, and
we're just excited to keep going.
I love missionary work. I have to be honest, sometimes I forget how
much I love it....it is incredibly hard, and there are moments where you
really feel like you are just pushed to your limits. But, it is all for
a wise purpose under heaven, God wants us to become like Him, and He
provided the perfect plan to help us do so. The Savior lives and loves
us all, He is cheering for us and our families....let us run towards Him
together.
I love you with all my heart.
Sarah
PS I finally got the camera, and the earrings I got the DAY of my bday. THANK YOU! love love. Have the best week ever!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Surprise!
First of all....daddy. Happy Father's day. I really miss you. I think of you ever morning when I go running. I cherish the things you have tuaght me. I marvel at your goodness and consistency, and I thank the Lord that He allowed me to be entrusted in your stewardship on this earth. I hope that things are well. Thank you for your hard work, and your determination to serve God and our family forever. Thank you for your love of the truth, and for using your personal agency to provide your family with experiences we needed to learn and grow. I LOVE YOU DAD! I think we should go camping when I get home. Or maybe we could come back to switzerland and do that? good ideas!!
I am still alive! So sorry it has taken us until THURSDAY to get our emails in...would you like to know the story of why we had no time on P-day? I thought so.
So. Great news, I have a new companion AND sister Bicchierri stayed...which means we are a threesome again! Soeur Bartlome is from Utah, and this is her last transfer (she was in the MTC with Soeur Madsen...who is still in Montpellier so if Brother Bize goes to church on Sunday that will be a fun connection to make. :) ) But, we really love our new companionship...tis great because we have SO much to do and we can do member splits a lot easier, in theory, and we are just excited to keep on rolling!
So we went and picked up Sr Bartlome (who came from Dijon, so that was fun to exchange some stories,....it seems like it was forever ago that I lived there!) and we put her bags in our apt and had to leave toute de suite because we had a rdv with this person whose name we can't understand who has been trying to meet up with us for over a month I believe. He didn't show up. ha. But, this led us to another adventure! We saw this old lady in a wheelchair going downhill and basically, it was just all bad, she was kind of going off the curb so we ran to help her. We asked her where she was going, but she is from Spain, and pretty much only spoke old lady spanish and so we were all having a hard time understanding, even soeur bicchierri! haha, so she is like pointing us in all sorts of directions and pretty soon we've walked like half a mile and we are next to the lake, so we just kind of promenaded a little. There is a music festival in Geneva this weekend so there are pianos all over the city, and they 'Jouez...je suis a vous' which is basically just saying these pianos belong to the community so we can play them as we wish. So Soeur Bartlome sits down and plays Souviens-toi, a french hymn, and we gave a little concert to the passers by. We are going to get together today with a bunch of missionaries and go around to the different pianos doing the same thing. Seriously, Isn't my mission the best? I LOVE GENEVA!
And so then we are starting to get a little worried for our new friend and we call the spanish elders and they are having a hard time getting anything out of her. This is when we discovered she probably has dimentia because she was telling us how she was going to her mothers house, and she was also talking into her life alert thinggy as if it was a phone. Ha. So, we did our best to help her find home, and we prayed. It was quite the adventure. And, this is why we had no time to do emails on Monday. Hahahaha.
Ony recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost , the Aaronic Priesthood, home teaching assignments, and a calling as a ward missionary all in the same day. He is so AMAZING! After a person is baptized they are confirmed a member of the Church through a priesthood ordinance where men who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood lay their hands on the person's head to bless them and confer upon them the gift of the Holy Ghost which means as they keep the commandments they can receive guidance, comfort and inspiration through the Holy Ghost who is the third member of the Godhead. Ony's wife could also be having a baby at this very second for all we know. He is already doing so much for these Mongolians. He organized a bbq on saturday by the lake, and he made SO MUCH MEAT and it was AMAZING! Mongolian bbq anyone? But seriously. The man is incredible, and him and brother gabriel are becoming best of friends. SO HAPPY! Ony's mom also came to church again last week...we are excited for her to start learning. How cool would that be for Ony to baptize her and his wife? ETERNAL FAMILIES! Speaking of, Bibiana and Gabriel taught gospel principles class for Brother Volpicelli on Sunday...and it was so good. Seriously, you would have to do some pretty hard convincing to get me to believe she has only been a member for two weeks. Last time we went to their house for a RDV we brought Stephane and we all talked about the temple. The Best. They are all so excited to go. We might or might not have all set up a rdv for June 17 2013 (one year after Stephane's confirmation) at the temple in Zollikoffen....so I told them that we all need to set up a little 'sister waldron fund' and pinch our pennies. I WANT TO GO SO BAD. On verra. We can't speak of such things in the oh so distant future just yet because that means I will no longer be a missionary and that is super weird. Speaking of, happy hump day--this is missionary lingo for reaching your half-way point! Yes, today is officially my nine month mark...whaaaaaaaaa???? how did this happen? Oh also speaking of Stephane, lets all keep praying for him, ok? Basically, he's still tempted by cigarettes and just wants to overcome the temptation...and its harder for him than he expected. But, we KNOW he can stay true! We have lived too many miracles together, and he has had too many witnesses of the truth for him to fail. A cool miracle happened...his girlfriend from Lyon came to his confirmation with her two kids (so cute, I'm totally in love with them) and she told us that her sister is actually an active member of the church in Lyon and now she is going to start looking into the church! We taught her a little bit of the first lesson and she loves church already. BEAUTIFUL! But yeah, things are great. Stephane's friend who is being taught by the elders (they didn't know that one another were both taking the lessons until they saw eachother at churhc) should be getting baptized soon too. his name is Ousman. NEAT!
Another family, Sonya Bronco and children (and the boyfriend, Carlos) A portuguese family who could use a lot of prayers. they are in a tough situation and just need some more TLC chez-eux. Jose and jessica are the cutest kids on this planet, and we love them a lot. There is also Luis, Paula, and Paulita who we are starting to work with. then there is Lucy from Liberia. SHE HAS SUCH A TESTIMONY! We are meeting with her and Bishop Kimball is coming tonight at 8:00. I don't know what time that is in CA but that would be neat if you prayed for us! Thanks for your prayer, by the way, I KNOW they are answered.
So much more I could say, but for now I will just testify that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not just another church, it is the Lord's Kingdom established on the earth today, and is the fulfillment of ancient prophecy. I love the gospel. I love people, and I love teaching and meeting people from all over the world, with all of their diverse experiences and opinions. I love to know that they are all my brothers and sisters, and that God loves and cares for every single soul. I love that He cares for my soul. He cared enough to put me through immensely difficult trials of faith during my mission, so that I could leanr and grow and become, and so that I myself could be converted. Conversion is not something that takes place once in a lifetime, but it takes a lifetime. Saving ordances, such as baptism, are essential aspects and outward expressions of our inner conversion, and they allow us to deepen and strengthen our relationship with the Divine.
I love you so.
Soeur Waldron
I am still alive! So sorry it has taken us until THURSDAY to get our emails in...would you like to know the story of why we had no time on P-day? I thought so.
So. Great news, I have a new companion AND sister Bicchierri stayed...which means we are a threesome again! Soeur Bartlome is from Utah, and this is her last transfer (she was in the MTC with Soeur Madsen...who is still in Montpellier so if Brother Bize goes to church on Sunday that will be a fun connection to make. :) ) But, we really love our new companionship...tis great because we have SO much to do and we can do member splits a lot easier, in theory, and we are just excited to keep on rolling!
So we went and picked up Sr Bartlome (who came from Dijon, so that was fun to exchange some stories,....it seems like it was forever ago that I lived there!) and we put her bags in our apt and had to leave toute de suite because we had a rdv with this person whose name we can't understand who has been trying to meet up with us for over a month I believe. He didn't show up. ha. But, this led us to another adventure! We saw this old lady in a wheelchair going downhill and basically, it was just all bad, she was kind of going off the curb so we ran to help her. We asked her where she was going, but she is from Spain, and pretty much only spoke old lady spanish and so we were all having a hard time understanding, even soeur bicchierri! haha, so she is like pointing us in all sorts of directions and pretty soon we've walked like half a mile and we are next to the lake, so we just kind of promenaded a little. There is a music festival in Geneva this weekend so there are pianos all over the city, and they 'Jouez...je suis a vous' which is basically just saying these pianos belong to the community so we can play them as we wish. So Soeur Bartlome sits down and plays Souviens-toi, a french hymn, and we gave a little concert to the passers by. We are going to get together today with a bunch of missionaries and go around to the different pianos doing the same thing. Seriously, Isn't my mission the best? I LOVE GENEVA!
And so then we are starting to get a little worried for our new friend and we call the spanish elders and they are having a hard time getting anything out of her. This is when we discovered she probably has dimentia because she was telling us how she was going to her mothers house, and she was also talking into her life alert thinggy as if it was a phone. Ha. So, we did our best to help her find home, and we prayed. It was quite the adventure. And, this is why we had no time to do emails on Monday. Hahahaha.
Ony recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost , the Aaronic Priesthood, home teaching assignments, and a calling as a ward missionary all in the same day. He is so AMAZING! After a person is baptized they are confirmed a member of the Church through a priesthood ordinance where men who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood lay their hands on the person's head to bless them and confer upon them the gift of the Holy Ghost which means as they keep the commandments they can receive guidance, comfort and inspiration through the Holy Ghost who is the third member of the Godhead. Ony's wife could also be having a baby at this very second for all we know. He is already doing so much for these Mongolians. He organized a bbq on saturday by the lake, and he made SO MUCH MEAT and it was AMAZING! Mongolian bbq anyone? But seriously. The man is incredible, and him and brother gabriel are becoming best of friends. SO HAPPY! Ony's mom also came to church again last week...we are excited for her to start learning. How cool would that be for Ony to baptize her and his wife? ETERNAL FAMILIES! Speaking of, Bibiana and Gabriel taught gospel principles class for Brother Volpicelli on Sunday...and it was so good. Seriously, you would have to do some pretty hard convincing to get me to believe she has only been a member for two weeks. Last time we went to their house for a RDV we brought Stephane and we all talked about the temple. The Best. They are all so excited to go. We might or might not have all set up a rdv for June 17 2013 (one year after Stephane's confirmation) at the temple in Zollikoffen....so I told them that we all need to set up a little 'sister waldron fund' and pinch our pennies. I WANT TO GO SO BAD. On verra. We can't speak of such things in the oh so distant future just yet because that means I will no longer be a missionary and that is super weird. Speaking of, happy hump day--this is missionary lingo for reaching your half-way point! Yes, today is officially my nine month mark...whaaaaaaaaa???? how did this happen? Oh also speaking of Stephane, lets all keep praying for him, ok? Basically, he's still tempted by cigarettes and just wants to overcome the temptation...and its harder for him than he expected. But, we KNOW he can stay true! We have lived too many miracles together, and he has had too many witnesses of the truth for him to fail. A cool miracle happened...his girlfriend from Lyon came to his confirmation with her two kids (so cute, I'm totally in love with them) and she told us that her sister is actually an active member of the church in Lyon and now she is going to start looking into the church! We taught her a little bit of the first lesson and she loves church already. BEAUTIFUL! But yeah, things are great. Stephane's friend who is being taught by the elders (they didn't know that one another were both taking the lessons until they saw eachother at churhc) should be getting baptized soon too. his name is Ousman. NEAT!
Another family, Sonya Bronco and children (and the boyfriend, Carlos) A portuguese family who could use a lot of prayers. they are in a tough situation and just need some more TLC chez-eux. Jose and jessica are the cutest kids on this planet, and we love them a lot. There is also Luis, Paula, and Paulita who we are starting to work with. then there is Lucy from Liberia. SHE HAS SUCH A TESTIMONY! We are meeting with her and Bishop Kimball is coming tonight at 8:00. I don't know what time that is in CA but that would be neat if you prayed for us! Thanks for your prayer, by the way, I KNOW they are answered.
So much more I could say, but for now I will just testify that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not just another church, it is the Lord's Kingdom established on the earth today, and is the fulfillment of ancient prophecy. I love the gospel. I love people, and I love teaching and meeting people from all over the world, with all of their diverse experiences and opinions. I love to know that they are all my brothers and sisters, and that God loves and cares for every single soul. I love that He cares for my soul. He cared enough to put me through immensely difficult trials of faith during my mission, so that I could leanr and grow and become, and so that I myself could be converted. Conversion is not something that takes place once in a lifetime, but it takes a lifetime. Saving ordances, such as baptism, are essential aspects and outward expressions of our inner conversion, and they allow us to deepen and strengthen our relationship with the Divine.
I love you so.
Soeur Waldron
June 4
This is going to be the shortest email ever because we had pretty much no time at all today, sorry!!!!
This week was challenging, but also wonderful. Bibiana and Kiara were baptized and confirmed this weekend, Ony is getting married tomorrow, and Stèphane and David are experiencing the miraculous changes in their lives that come from feasting upon the words of Christ. The Book of Mormon changes lives! The work is really moving forward! And I am so blessed to be a part of it!
Thanks for the early birthday wishes....I'm going to be such an old lady! AH! haha, but Thursday should b a great day, we are having a special activity with the single adults!
I love you. I love the gospel. I love truth and I love righteousness. I love the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the beauties of the earth, and the light their is in the eyes of every child of God.
This month we are reading Preach my Gospel all together as a mission....I am really excited! Today I read 1 Nephi 8 and 11 as part of my studies, one of my favorites. I know the Love of God is indeed sweeter than all other things.
Have a super week!
Soeur Waldron
May 30
Sorry I wasn't able to email Monday, I know it was memorial day there, and honestly I have no idea what the holiday was here. Probably a Catholic holiday of some sort.
Thanks for the emails and letters I recieved this week. You know who you are, and I hope you know I love you ENORMEMENT!
We have had so many miracles this week, I don't even know where to start!!!!
Ok lets start from the very beginning. We had Family Home Evening at our Ward mission leaders house with the Hernandez family (and yesterday it was the same thing, only at the Hernandez's) and basically it was the best. Fr. Volpicelli is the one who baptized Gabriel 3 years ago, and him and his wife have been incredible at responding in love to this family and their desire to follow Jesus Christ together. Kiara and Bibiana (I thought before she was just saying her name with a Colombian accent, but no, its really spelled with B's) passed their baptisimal interviews with flying colors last night....it was so adorable, while Bibiana was in her interview, Kiara (10yrs) sat Sr Bicchierri and I down, and the district leader's companion, and taught us all we need to know to be baptized. We were in those little baby primary chairs, and she was wearing my nametag and writing all the things we needed to know on the chalkboard in her very best cursive. Seriously, the best. Their baptism is Friday at 7, and Gabriel is baptising them. THIS IS SO AMAZING!
Then, there is Stèphane. We met him at the bus stop like day two, I beleive. We taught him the first lesson two weeks ago on a park bench, and he was amazed by the story of Joseph Smith, and excited to read and find out for himself if it was true. We weren't able to see him again until last week, and because Sr. Bicchierri and I STUDIED WITH THE SPIRIT that morning, we knew what we needed to teach him, and we decided to do the third lesson instead of the 2nd, which we normally would do. Stèphane is from Camaroon, and we invited two other men in our ward who are from Africa, Frère Mansaya and Joel, to come and teach with us. It was such a powerful experience. I have never had a more spiritual rendez-vous in my entire mission. Seriously. And at the end we were all smiling so big we didn't even know what to do. Stèphane expressed to us how he know's Christ is his Savior, but he doesn't feel the love for Him he knows he should. He told us how he wants to repent, but how he always finds himself making the same mistakes. He told us many other things, but basically, we testified to him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, recieving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end) and how this is how we access the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and His grace, which is the enabling power that allows us to change. We know that answers to the questions of life come from prayer, diligent study of the Book of Mormon, and attending church. So, these are the things we invited him to do. Two days later, we get a phone call in the morning, it's Stèphane. 'Hey, I hope it doesn't bother you that I am calling....I just wanted to tell you because I just finished reading the chapters you gave me, and I really felt like God was talking to me personally....I'm so happy. I just wanted to tell you.' Well, if that doesn't make a missionary's day, I don't know what does. After expounding upon the scriptures with him over the phone for a while, we hung up, and then commenced Sr. Waldron and Sr. Bicchierri running in circles around the institute 'WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AH! No time! So much more to say. Ok, quickly. Mongolian miracle of a a lifetime. We had a ward party at the old mission home last week, and A LOT of our Mongolian members came, and also three Mongolian investigators...all three of whom we met that same day for the first time. Kind of a long story. Anyway, we were really happy, and EN PLUS, there was a RETURNED MISSIONARY WHO SERVED IN MONGOLIA who was there! It gets better, he is living here the whole summer with his wife, who is from geneva, and he doesn't have a job or anything, so basically he can come and teach with us all the time, translate Sunday meetings, and be all around awesome. I'm not sure who is more excited, the RM who found out there are tons of people from where he served here in Geneva, us missionaries, or the Mongolians. THIS IS SUCH A MIRACLE! Ony is still doing great, even though the ambassador is traveling or something so we are still waiting for him to be married, but he is still doing great. We finally met his fiancee Shiny the other day, which was another miracle in and of itself, and basically she is so beautiful and great. I LOVE MONGOLIANS! I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it is LITERALLY wroughting a mighty change in the lives of so many here!!!
So much more I could share. This week, Sr. Biccchierri and I are really hoping to find some new amis, and we are excited about several other people who we are teaching. WE have one other ami with a baptisimal date, David, and he is in a really tough situation, but he just wants to repent and come to Christ. What a blessing to work with beloved children of God every day!!!
I know my Father lives and loves me too. I know that Christ is our Savior, and I know that His Gospel and the Priesthood authority necessary to administer the ordonances therof have been restored. We can all have Eternal Life if we choose it.
HAVE THE BEST WEEK EVER!
Soeur Waldron
Here's the thing, this was the BEST WEEK OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU ALL FOR THE BIRTHDAY WISHESSSSS :)))))))
Seriously, I don't think there are even words enough to explain or express how incredibly blessed I feel, and how incredibly TRUE the gospel of Jesus Christ is. His Atonement truly has the power and the purpose to make bad men good, and good men better.
So, Monday was tranquille, I honestly dont remember much. We had Mongolian FHE (family home evening) which is always a blast. I love them!!!
Tuesday, we met with the inner mongolian bataar who speaks chinese with our miracle member who served his mission in mongolia and speaks mongolian and chinese. it was awesome. At this same time Ony was getting MARRIED in the Mongolian Embassy to his beautiful WIFE! LAter, we had a RDV with Stephane who, long story short, after a great big series of miracles and revelation through prayer and studying the Book of Mormon, Bible, and the Liahona (church magazine), he came to our rendez vous and he told us how he knew that we had prophets on the earth today and that this was the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth and said 'please, can I be baptized this weekend instead? I don't want to wait another week.....' .....YESSS! And then we met with our friend matthew, who is really on the brink of making some major changes in his life. WE Also met with a guy named Timothy who is here on vacation, and way interested in the Book of Mormon, and we had a miraculous DMP meeting (dirigeant missionaire de paroisse....) yep. solid day.
Wednesday we did exchanges and I was with sister addis who is one transfer younger than me (I was her 'mom' in the mtc) and I just love her! WE had another rdv with stephane, which was a bit of a stumbling block actually, but really good because it forced us to pray hard and try and respond to his needs and questions. We had a couple other meetings and totally had a miracle that night too. Voila.
Thursday. Sister Waldron's bday! I also had a huge coldsore coming in (just two baptisms coming up that weekend and like 0 time to prepare...not stressed!) so that was actually hilarious. We went on a walk in the little forest next to our house for exercises, and finished the exchange, and then sr bicchierri and I went to ony's and he and his wife and sister in law had made me an asian birthday FEAST! Seriously. He gave me a little statue of an angel from him and his wife as a gift and said 'it's you!' heart. melting. I LOVE THEM!
WE had another RDV with matthew, and an awesome rdv with stephane, and then some total miracles that night working with the young adults. we visited our friend lucy who is from liberia and is just falling in love with the church, seriously, she called me today just to say how much she loves us all. ha. Pretty amazing birthday.
Friday was zone conference, president and soeur murdock's last. I love them. They have changed my life, and saved it in many ways. We learned many words of life that day. We sang 'God be with you' and I cried like a child. President gave all the sisters hugs and that was the best! and soeur murdock too, but we hug her all the time. ha. I LOVE THEM! WE then visited our little family hernandez, and when we walked in she was googling pictures of the temple. She like wants to go next week. Seriously, ETERNAL FAMILY IN THE MAKING! I love it. Then we taught some Mongolians who we met last week, with brother gabriel who is still such a miracle, and it was great. Again, super day.
So saturday, Ony has his baptisimal interview with Elder Quesada, and he totally gave him a white shirt and ties, and Ony was SO EXCITED! Seriously, adorable. Then, we had our last RDV with Stéphane...so incredible....we were basically all holding bakc the tears. And after that we had a little break before the adult session of stake conference, which was super! And then Stéphane had his interview, and seiously, SO MANY MIRACLES! I wish I could tell you every detail of my life right now! I wish I could even remember them all myself!
So Then there was sunday. Which was Spencer's birhtday, and also one of the best days of my entire life!!!!!! I hope that for your birthday, you recieved all of the blessings of this remarkable day :) We had a braodcast of a special stake conference for our part of Europe, and we heard from the Primary General PResident, Elder Zwick, Elder Nelson, and PResident Eyring.They talked a lot about families, and eternity, and what we need to teach our children, and how we need to reach out to our families and its part of our stewardship. It was SO GOOD! And I got to see it twice beacuse of the french, english wards. So great. Ony was there in his shirt and tie translating for his mom and his wife and all the others, and thirty minutes after the conference he was baptized. IT was SUCH a powerful experience. I can't really explain it. After that, we had the baptisimal service for Stéphane. Wow. wow. wow. I still can't believe it was all real. BUT IT IS! IT was so incredibly powerful.
We all went together to the mission home later that night for the last new member fireside with President and Soeur Murdock, and we were there with the Hernandez's, Stephane, and Ony, and it was basically incredible. All of the new members got to share their testimonies, and we were just all delighted to be together. Needless to say, we all went to bed with smiles on our faces, and we are anxiously awaiting Sundy when these two incredible men will recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost, and this will complete a beautiful and MIRACULOUS transfer here in Geneva. I never could have imagined this the first day I arrived at the mission home. What a priviledge to be helping the Lord bring the gospel to people from literally all over the world, here in this part of His vineyeard. I know He lives! For the things we have felt in our hearts 'couldn't have been placed there by anyone else.' This is His church. If it wasn't, 19 year old boys and 20 something girls could not be helping people change their lives every day. The Book of Mormon changes lives EVERY DAY. It is basically one giant LFD (lessons from dad-a term we use in our family for when my dad talks to us) I decided, only its from our Father in Heaven. HE LOVES US SO MUCH!!! Everything we need to know to make it in this life has been revealed by God through His prophets. Everlasting happiness will be ours if we choose it!
I love you with all my heart. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL! I know it is the truth!!! REally, it is the most liberating thing. If you don't know it, find it out. Give the Spirit a chance to give you this immense joy by reading the Book of Mormon, Going to Chruch, and praying and asking your Father in Heaven. I love you all with all of my heart. I LOVE MY MISSION!
Soeur Waldron
Seriously, I don't think there are even words enough to explain or express how incredibly blessed I feel, and how incredibly TRUE the gospel of Jesus Christ is. His Atonement truly has the power and the purpose to make bad men good, and good men better.
So, Monday was tranquille, I honestly dont remember much. We had Mongolian FHE (family home evening) which is always a blast. I love them!!!
Tuesday, we met with the inner mongolian bataar who speaks chinese with our miracle member who served his mission in mongolia and speaks mongolian and chinese. it was awesome. At this same time Ony was getting MARRIED in the Mongolian Embassy to his beautiful WIFE! LAter, we had a RDV with Stephane who, long story short, after a great big series of miracles and revelation through prayer and studying the Book of Mormon, Bible, and the Liahona (church magazine), he came to our rendez vous and he told us how he knew that we had prophets on the earth today and that this was the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth and said 'please, can I be baptized this weekend instead? I don't want to wait another week.....' .....YESSS! And then we met with our friend matthew, who is really on the brink of making some major changes in his life. WE Also met with a guy named Timothy who is here on vacation, and way interested in the Book of Mormon, and we had a miraculous DMP meeting (dirigeant missionaire de paroisse....) yep. solid day.
Wednesday we did exchanges and I was with sister addis who is one transfer younger than me (I was her 'mom' in the mtc) and I just love her! WE had another rdv with stephane, which was a bit of a stumbling block actually, but really good because it forced us to pray hard and try and respond to his needs and questions. We had a couple other meetings and totally had a miracle that night too. Voila.
Thursday. Sister Waldron's bday! I also had a huge coldsore coming in (just two baptisms coming up that weekend and like 0 time to prepare...not stressed!) so that was actually hilarious. We went on a walk in the little forest next to our house for exercises, and finished the exchange, and then sr bicchierri and I went to ony's and he and his wife and sister in law had made me an asian birthday FEAST! Seriously. He gave me a little statue of an angel from him and his wife as a gift and said 'it's you!' heart. melting. I LOVE THEM!
WE had another RDV with matthew, and an awesome rdv with stephane, and then some total miracles that night working with the young adults. we visited our friend lucy who is from liberia and is just falling in love with the church, seriously, she called me today just to say how much she loves us all. ha. Pretty amazing birthday.
Friday was zone conference, president and soeur murdock's last. I love them. They have changed my life, and saved it in many ways. We learned many words of life that day. We sang 'God be with you' and I cried like a child. President gave all the sisters hugs and that was the best! and soeur murdock too, but we hug her all the time. ha. I LOVE THEM! WE then visited our little family hernandez, and when we walked in she was googling pictures of the temple. She like wants to go next week. Seriously, ETERNAL FAMILY IN THE MAKING! I love it. Then we taught some Mongolians who we met last week, with brother gabriel who is still such a miracle, and it was great. Again, super day.
So saturday, Ony has his baptisimal interview with Elder Quesada, and he totally gave him a white shirt and ties, and Ony was SO EXCITED! Seriously, adorable. Then, we had our last RDV with Stéphane...so incredible....we were basically all holding bakc the tears. And after that we had a little break before the adult session of stake conference, which was super! And then Stéphane had his interview, and seiously, SO MANY MIRACLES! I wish I could tell you every detail of my life right now! I wish I could even remember them all myself!
So Then there was sunday. Which was Spencer's birhtday, and also one of the best days of my entire life!!!!!! I hope that for your birthday, you recieved all of the blessings of this remarkable day :) We had a braodcast of a special stake conference for our part of Europe, and we heard from the Primary General PResident, Elder Zwick, Elder Nelson, and PResident Eyring.They talked a lot about families, and eternity, and what we need to teach our children, and how we need to reach out to our families and its part of our stewardship. It was SO GOOD! And I got to see it twice beacuse of the french, english wards. So great. Ony was there in his shirt and tie translating for his mom and his wife and all the others, and thirty minutes after the conference he was baptized. IT was SUCH a powerful experience. I can't really explain it. After that, we had the baptisimal service for Stéphane. Wow. wow. wow. I still can't believe it was all real. BUT IT IS! IT was so incredibly powerful.
We all went together to the mission home later that night for the last new member fireside with President and Soeur Murdock, and we were there with the Hernandez's, Stephane, and Ony, and it was basically incredible. All of the new members got to share their testimonies, and we were just all delighted to be together. Needless to say, we all went to bed with smiles on our faces, and we are anxiously awaiting Sundy when these two incredible men will recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost, and this will complete a beautiful and MIRACULOUS transfer here in Geneva. I never could have imagined this the first day I arrived at the mission home. What a priviledge to be helping the Lord bring the gospel to people from literally all over the world, here in this part of His vineyeard. I know He lives! For the things we have felt in our hearts 'couldn't have been placed there by anyone else.' This is His church. If it wasn't, 19 year old boys and 20 something girls could not be helping people change their lives every day. The Book of Mormon changes lives EVERY DAY. It is basically one giant LFD (lessons from dad-a term we use in our family for when my dad talks to us) I decided, only its from our Father in Heaven. HE LOVES US SO MUCH!!! Everything we need to know to make it in this life has been revealed by God through His prophets. Everlasting happiness will be ours if we choose it!
I love you with all my heart. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL! I know it is the truth!!! REally, it is the most liberating thing. If you don't know it, find it out. Give the Spirit a chance to give you this immense joy by reading the Book of Mormon, Going to Chruch, and praying and asking your Father in Heaven. I love you all with all of my heart. I LOVE MY MISSION!
Soeur Waldron
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